ONE NICHE AT A TIME
By Pauline Field
Excerpt from BUSINESS WEEK - September 26, 2007

Rather than focusing exclusively on your "slugs," you should also continuously work on filling your prospect pipeline, says Pauline Field, a business and management consultant with International FieldWorks. "Some of the sluggish prospects may eventually become clients, but putting all your eggs in that basket will most likely leave you frustrated and without the business you are looking for," she notes. "By filling your pipeline with many potential clients and projects, it becomes clear that you are busy and that it is not some manipulative sales technique you are using when you suggest that [reluctant clients] better grab you now, otherwise you might have to put their project on hold until you can free up resources. 'Success breeds success' becomes true, because everything about you speaks it. Likewise, when you are desperate for work, it shows."

Clearly define your marketing strategies so you're targeting companies from specific industries, geographic regions, and of particular sizes, she suggests. "Pick one niche at a time to focus on and your marketing efforts will be more productive and make it easier to sell each prospect. Many entrepreneurs are nervous about excluding lots of potential clients, but by not doing that they appeal to no one. A potential customer wants to feel that you are speaking to him directly, that you know his business and his industry. He can get his thoughts around what you are saying because you are speaking his language," Field says.

The bottom line is that people buy from people they like and trust. "Show an interest in the prospect's hobbies and family. Share your hobby and family stories where compatible. [Giving prospects] one good reason to buy your product or service is better than [giving] many mediocre reasons," says small business consultant Ted Dunn. As you are new to running your own company, you'd do well to do some research on sales (BusinessWeek, 9/21/07) and perhaps take a course or two on entrepreneurship. There's a whole universe of skills that you'll need to master in order to be successful in your new career.